Texel, Netherlands: Sand, Shells and (more) Sheep

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After an on-the-go trip through the natural wonderland of Iceland we flew to Amsterdam.  Based on the recommendation of several European friends we headed up north to the beach island of Texel.  First, we picked up our brand new Peugeot 2008—a “European urban SUV” that we were afraid would be the size of a smart car but is actually pretty roomy.  In his months of preparation, Jim discovered a deal where for less than a price of a car rental you can lease a car straight from the maker so that the real buyer can pay reduced VAT tax (which is 20%).  Ah, the French.  Anyway, we have a great car for our 7 weeks in Europe. 

Texel is an island in the Wadden Sea (a UNESCO world heritage site) characterized by a really long beach, sheep (that are taller than those in Iceland), sand dunes, farmlands, and mudflats.  When the tide goes out you can walk to the next island if you know what you’re doing, which we don’t.  We spent our time trying to catch crabs, biking across the island (no one wears helmets, much to the kids’ amazement), walking through the dunes and playing in the sand.  Switching to unscripted days where we weren’t rushing to the next thing is a surprisingly hard change from our typical non-stop life at home; it's also pretty wonderful.

Our most memorable “senses” from Texel include:

Carolyn: The squishy slipperiness of mud oozing around my shoes walking through the mud flats

Liam: The sting of getting pelted by millions and millions of sand grains and shells in the 24mph wind on the beach

Jim: The taste of Texel in the meats, cheeses, bread, eggs and beer all made from the farms around the island.

Xander: The thunder of the retreating waves as the grainy sand in my hands piles up to make another wall

Lessons learned:

• Texel is the only place where a navy was defeated on horseback.  The Dutch navy froze into the ice around Texel in 1795, so 128 French army men rode up to it and demanded surrender. No shots were fired.
• Our new Peugeot car engine turns off at stoplights, and that's ok.
• Have enough cash to cover whatever you're buying (credit cards don't seem to be accepted everywhere in the Netherlands). If you don’t, you must rely on the kindness of restaurant owners who let you come back later to pay (without having to leave a kid for collateral) and grocery store workers who let you in to use the ATM after they are closed.
• Cool trick to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit: double the number, subtract the 10s number from the result, and add 32 (e.g., 23C = 23*2 = 46 - 4= 42 +32 = 74).  It is easier than F = 9/5*C +32.

If Liam looks at you like he loves you and gives you a hug, he wants some M&Ms Baby crabs live in seaweed

If you try to jump over a river, commit or you will end up with wet shoes

Crabs turn into balls when they fight

Tides have approximately 6 hour cycle (each way)

Build sand castles when the tide is going out-- the castles can be much more elaborate People in the Netherlands put sprinkles on bread and butter.  Dark chocolate sprinkles are the best (milk chocolate is too sweet) Tweenager boys are gassy, and don't care who knows it

We just spent a few days in Amsterdam, are in Belgium, and are heading to Germany tomorrow (more details later).  Central Europe here we come!

p.s. we’ve been updating the facebook group “CoWanderers” with pictures more often than the blog. Please join if you’re interested!